Background: The purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine cross-sectional associations between objective home environment (physical activity [PA] and media equipment counts by staff audit) and accelerometer-based sedentary behavior and PA (light PA, moderate-vigorous PA).

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from the Study of Household Purchasing Patterns, Eating, and Recreation (SHoPPER), a cross-sectional study of behavioral and socioeconomic correlates of food purchasing patterns. Participants were 188 community-dwelling adults ≥21 years (M age=44.5 years, SD=13) without significant health issues. Home audits captured counts of household PA equipment (e.g., football, treadmill) and media equipment (e.g., television, computer). Participants completed demographic questionnaires and wore ActiGraph accelerometers at the right axilla for 7-10 days to assess total daily minutes of sedentary behavior, light PA, or moderate-vigorous PA. Six multiple linear regression models were conducted to assess the association of home environment variables (PA and media equipment) with sedentary behavior and PA (light and moderate-vigorous), controlling for demographics and body mass index.

Results: On average, participants owned 16.1 (SD=20.8) items of PA equipment and 7.0 (SD=4.4) items of median equipment. Results indicated that more PA equipment (β=.19, p=.024) and more media equipment (β=.16, p=.046) were independently associated with more minutes spent in sedentary behavior, with no significant associations between home environment and light or moderate-vigorous PA.

Conclusion: Simply owning more PA equipment or less media equipment in the home may not facilitate PA. These findings highlight the potential influence of home environment on sedentary behavior.